Don't Miss Out

A walkthrough with commentary of Isabel Tom's book, The Value of Wrinkles

I believe one of the greatest untouched people groups in our country that churches by-and-large do not evangelize is people in the last half of their lives, especially the older generation. In searching for resources to better serve this community, I found Isabel Tom’s book, The Value of Wrinkles: a young perspective on how loving the old will change your life. She says,

“…this book is aimed at improving our attitudes and our heart toward our elders. You see, before we look into the type of care an elder needs, we first need to assess whether we have the right attitude and heart to give it. For good care is only good when it is given with love… this is a generation that for so long has been underestimated, undervalued, and forgotten.”

Why has the older generation been forgotten? Largely due to the overemphasis of youthfulness in our culture. Largely due to families being smaller, more detached from generation to generation. Perhaps also the tendency to put the elderly out of sight, in the other room or in another residence all together.

Tom argues we have so much we can learn from the older generation. She says,

“It’s time to consider how our attitudes toward aging affect our views of the elderly… It’s a great loss for the young and old to experience life separately…”